One of Diablo 4’s most underrated features helps blind players enjoy the game

Modern games don’t get enough praise for implementing (often innovative) accessibility features that allow players with a variety of different disabilities to enjoy them. Diablo 4 is the most recent game to do this, and it has done so primarily through clever implementation of existing solutions.

But that’s not my opinion, that’s what blind gamers who have been playing the latest from Blizzard have been sharing online.

reddit user tj_the_blind_gamer, who is completely blind, offered the community at large some thoughts on what his experience with Diablo 4 has been like so far. In one of the most popular posts on the Diablo 4 subreddit, tj_the_blind_gamer revealed that they managed to reach level 20 and complete a dungeon.

This worked mainly due to Diablo 4’s screen reader feature. Tj_the_blind_gamer has to rely on audio signals to understand what is being displayed on the screen. Diablo 4 screen reader can read map locations, general stats, abilities, equipment, etc.

The game also has proximity indicators for objects that you can interact with, such as chests. “This is definitely the biggest advantage of Diablo 4 in terms of accessibility for the blind,” they wrote.

As good as the proximity indicator is, tj_the_blind_gamer would like to see it go a step further by being able to guide players into doors and portals. They would also like to see audio equivalent to placing a pin on the map, perhaps some kind of unique sound trail that the player can follow. The navigation assistant would make a big difference here, for obvious reasons.

The screen reader itself can also be inconsistent, according to them. For example, it doesn’t read all the menu options for certain vendors, such as Jewelry Stores.

“Overall, I love the game and would easily recommend it to other players who are blind or have low vision. I can’t speak to the accessibility features for the deaf or mobility impaired, but from the moment I got a glimpse of them, they seemed like a good selection . of assistance options”, they estimate.

As for how a blind person would play an action game like Diablo 4, tj_the_blind_gamer said they start by opening the map, then move their cursor to the top and rely on the screen reader to basically tell them what’s nearby. Once they hear something they want to do, they stick with it and head in that direction.

There’s definitely some guesswork and testing error in his process, but tj_the_blind_gamer seems generally satisfied.

Catch up on more of our Diablo 4 coverage at the link, and don’t forget to check out the latest updates to our great beginner’s guide to Diablo 4. We recently added new pages that reset dungeons.